TEMECULA: Event adds up to family fun

Olivia Thompson and Hunter Crawford are two students who like
math and were happy to spend Wednesday evening playing numbers
games during the annual Family Math Night at Bella Vista Middle
School.

"People don't like math because it's a lot of work," Hunter
observed as she and Olivia tested themselves on their
multiplication tables by using dominoes to multiply the numbers on
the pieces.

The girls were among about 75 students and their families who
turned out for the fifth-annual event on the campus. Participants
were able to play a variety of challenging math and numbers games,
enjoy free pizza and enter a raffle for math-themed prizes and
games.

"It's a fun night. It's a fun way to share math," said Principal
Pam Blasich, who greeted visitors at the door.

Most of the school's math teachers were there to help the
students and families, and encourage them to try the games.

David Williams, an eighth-grade algebra teacher, and Christine
King, who teaches pre-algebra to sixth- and seventh-graders, were
on hand to help, and both acknowledged that some students are
afraid of math or seem to consistently struggle with it. A fear of
math is unnecessary, Williams said.

"It comes from their parents. Parents say, 'I was never good at
math,'" Williams said, adding, "We don't realize we use it all the
time."

King said she believes some students are just not ready to
tackle algebra in eighth grade, adding that Math Night helps
students view the subject differently.

"It's nice for them to come and just relax," she said. "They
don't have to feel under pressure or that they have to write things
down. There are no tests."

Tables were set up around the school's multipurpose room,
offering attendees 16 game stations to visit. Students and their
families could try their hand at solving the Rubik's Cube, tackling
puzzles such as Sudoku, and playing games such as Connect Four and
checkers. Other tables offered games called Puzzles with Pennies,
Show Me the Money, Mancala, Brain Teasers, Nim, Multiplication
Mastery and Toothpick Puzzles.

"I like how there are different activities. It makes it fun,"
said seventh-grader Devon Copley, who played games with coins at a
table with his dad, Dammon Copley.

Sixth-grader Bryan Langmead and his parents tried to solve the
Rubik's Cube by reading a specific set of printed directions on
their table.

"I could never get these, even when I was a kid," said Bryan's
dad, Chris Langmead, as he and Bryan worked on a couple of the
colorful cubes.

Bryan said he wanted to come to Math Night because he likes
math. His mother, Terry Langmead, thought the event was a great
idea and noted that her son's elementary school in Temecula held a
similar event last year for students.

"They have you doing things with your kids. That's the key," she
said.